The Crafting Dead: Undying Unity
by Ayekrusher0901
Summary: In a blocky world where the Apocalypse has broken out, a group of survivors do whatever it takes to survive. When their only safehouse has been destroyed, they'll have to search for a new place to call home. But in a world where the dead roam the lands and it's kill or be killed, it's easier said than done... (An original MC Roleplay now a story for you to read)
1. Chapter One

"Ugh!" Jacie Leganté shouted as he busted a zombie's head off. He had large bulging eyes that looked too big to fit in his skull, a head with hair as large as messy that it looked like an wild afro, and a blue hoodie that was patched in several places, with a few weapons held in place with tape.

"Take that - whoa!" A few meters away, one of his new friends, a man called Nico shouted as he hurled a zombie off the floor and into a hole, only to slip from the momentum and almost fell, narrowly holding on to the slowly collapsing roof.

"Nico!" Jacie shouted in shock, running over and pulled him back up, just as the rest of the floor fell into the wave of zombies below. "Fuck! I almost thought I lost-"

"Look out!" Nico pushed Jacie aside, which he turned to see the former pull out a combat knife and strike a zombie that had nearly bit him off the ledge, though he unfortunately lost his grip. "Damnit, there goes my favorite knife."

"Don't worry about it." Jacie quickly pulled Nico back. "Thanks buddy!"

"You're welcome. Where do we go now?" Nico panted as Jacie darted his eyes around, before setting them on a possible safe place.

"There. Your left, that door over t-" He began before a different zombie appeared and locked eyes with them.

"Shit!" Jacie cursed, recognizing the type of zombie. It was - if memory served him right - a 'runner zombie', a breed that was slightly weaker than the normal variety, but made it up for its increased mobility and heightened senses. "Open that door! Now!"

Nico ran to the door on the right while Jacie pulled out a glock and opened fire, backing to the door in steady steps.

The runner Zombie howled as the bullets pierced its decaying flesh before dashing towards the duo, rage in its dilated pupils.

"Damn you stupid-!" Nico cursed as he struggled to open the door. "Open - up - goddamn-whoa!" He yelled before throwing himself at the door a couple times and fell in as it finally managed to open. "Jacie! Get in!"

Jacie looked back towards and emptied the magazine before darting in before Nico slammed it shut as the Runner crashed against the door, and was out for the count.

* * *

"Fuck..." Jacie exhaustively groaned as Nico moved a desk to barricade the door. "That was a close one. You okay pal?"

"Yeah, I'm fine-" Nico groaned back before the two were startled by pounding sounds on the door.

"This door ain't gonna hold out forever." Jacie drew his gun and backed away from the door. "You got a plan to get us outta here?"

"Well, there's one, except only problem is that those damn walkers are in our way of getting out of here alive!" Nico sarcastically said before the semi wooden door cracked as a zombie's fist broke through.

"Ah, fuck. We gotta get outta here one way or another." Jacie said before looking towards a doorway to the main escalator. "Say, Nico, how good are your parkour skills?"

"Mediocre. Why?" Nico asked skeptically.

"You'll see." Jacie said as the wooden door groaned before finally giving out. "Follow me!"

As the undead burst into the room, Jacie broke through the doorway and slide on the handgrip on the defunct escalator, with Nico behind him. By the time they landed onto solid ground, there were fewer undead than before.

"Huh, that actually worked." Jacie panted.

"Save the crap later. We're not out of the woods yet!"

Nodding, the two made a break through the already defunct swirling doors and escaped the mall, while the zombies, try as they might, groaned as they got stuck and watched as the two humans ran into the sunset.

* * *

"Alright..." Jacie sighed as he leaned against a tree to recover his breath. "You got any idea - where did they come from?"

"Beats me." Nico panted, sitting on the ground. "I'm - just glad - we're back in one piece."

"Yeah...we could've died in there."

"Yep. A couple rounds of ammo and a good knife..." Nico gestured to the bag on his back. "...for another few days' worth of food."

"Instincts man - c'mon!" Jacie said annoyingly as he slapped Nico in the chest.

"Alright alright, not gonna judge. Let's just go." Nico said. "If only we had enough water to last for another week we'd be set."

"Well, here we are. Home sweet home." Jacie said as their heavily barricaded home appeared in sight. While the barricade itself wasn't too hard for a person to climb over, it did its job to keep the dead away.

"Alright Tobi, We're back!" Jacie said as he climbed the barricade, yet only silence greeted them.

"Don't tell me he's sleeping on the job again?" Nico groaned as he jumped down from the barricade.

"For fuck's sake Tobi!" Jacie said as he gave an agitated sigh. "The hell are you, you lazy cunt?

Inside, a young Korean boy with dark brunette hair was sleeping on a coach, a small pool of drool gathering near the floor.

At least, that was what he was doing before a very pissed Jacie burst into the room. "AY BUDDY! WAKE UP!"

Tobi jumped up as if his butt was on fire. "I'm awake! I'm awake!" He stammered, wiping his mouth before looking around and sighed. "Fuck's sake..."

"Seriously?" Nico said angrily as he came in. "The base could have been compromised, and you decided to doze off!"

"Look, I'm the one who had to go and fix the fence in the yard last night! Gimme a break, sheesh!" Tobi retorted in annoyance.

"Fine, you have a point." Jacie replied. "Go ahead and sleep, it's my shift anyway."

"Yeah, right. Good night!" Tobi said before falling back to sleep.

"Well." Jacie said as he put down his gear. "Get the stuff into the crate. You know where to find me if I needed."

* * *

That night, while Tobi kept snoring away, Jacie was leaning from a window at the half-collapsed wall of their house - the only section left of the second story.

"One, Two, Three." Jacie said as he counted the zombies in his sight. "Just a couple of walkers to deal with-"

"Hey, what's up!"

Jacie grinned, turning to see Nico climb on through a ladder. "Ay whaddup buddy?" He asked, pulling out a magazine.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Just about to hunt some Zs." Jacie replied as he loaded his gun.

"You mean the dead, or some rest?" Nico joked as he came over.

"Heh. Like you haven't used that joke before." Jacie grinned sarcastically.

"Well, I don't see that many around the perimeter. You can't really hit them with your glock from here anyway." Nico said as he sat down. "Besides, we need to find a way to sustain this wreck, or else we gotta-"

"Damn it Nico." Jacie said as he put a hand up. "I'm not having this conversation again, we can still manage it! I mean, aside from this wall-" He patted the wall behind him to illustrate his point, but Nico shook his head.

"No! We can't just ignore it anymore. Remember last time? When part of the chimney fell off and we nearly got whacked in the head? Took us a week to clear the mess!"

"That was just an unlucky coincidence!" Jacie protested. "It had nothing to do with-"

"No. It had everything to do with this poor excuse of a house!" Nico interrupted, anger flaring in his eyes. "Just because we've been here for about, what, six months, doesn't mean we have to stay here for the rest of our lives!"

"Well goddamn, chill." Jacie said bitterly as he hit the wall. "It's not like we have anywhere else to go, do we?"

"Actually-" Nico interjected, before a crackling noise interrupted them.

"What was that?" Jacie nervously asked before Nico looked around.

"Oh crap." Nico gasped as he saw the floorboards heave up and the wall began to till backwards. "Everyone, get down!" He shouted as they jumped off onto the ground unharmed before it collapsed inwards, gathering dust in the air.

"Well then." Jacie stammered, clearly flabbergasted at the sight.

"You were saying?" Nico gave him a deadpan stare.

"What the hell just happened?" Tobi's voice called from within. "I go to get a drink for and I come back to find my bed flattened by a wall!"

"The house is falling apart, and Jacie here is just ignoring all of this!" Nico called back.

"Wha- no!" Jacie was taken aback by the accusation. "I do care-"

"No you fucking don't!" Nico interrupted angrily. "You just said that you didn't even want to talk about this because you thought it was untrue!"

"Alright alright, calm down." Jacie sighed. This was not a good day for him. "Time for a meeting."

* * *

"Alright guys, there's a few things we gotta talk about." Jacie began. "The lack of water and weapons we have right now, and also, well..." He stopped for a few seconds before pointing to the collapsed wall. "That."

"Yea, kinda obvious." Tobi sarcastically groaned. "I thought we had enough water to last for a while?"

"Yea, 'for a while'." Jacie said as he did two finger guns. "We only have around a week or so's worth of water left!"

"Well, I've been figuring out ways to get us more water, from collecting morning dew to draining water from pipes. All I hope so is that it rains soon, so that we can collect some rainwater from what containers we got left, or else we'll literally die of dehydration soon."

"Copy that. Another thing is we're running low on weapons." Jacie continued. "My machete is doing ok, but I only have a few rounds left in my glock, and Nico lost his combat knife in that brawl yesterday."

"My bad alright?" Nico apologized. "I'm real careless sometimes-"

"Your fucking "carelessness" is gonna cost us our fucking lives soon!"

"Chill, don't worry. I mean there's loads of potential weapons out here, I'll just rip out a pipe or nail some nails to a plank of wood or something.

"Fine. But we really need some weapons soon or else we'll be real screwed if we need to raid for resources again."

"Got that. Final thing, our base is collapsing. and for the last damn time." He added, glaring at Jacie."We can't ignore it anymore."

"Alright, fine!" Jacie raised his hands in mock surrender. "I admit, we need a new home. Question is, where the fuck do we go?"

"Well, I suppose you have a plan." Tobi turned to Nico, who had kneeled down in search of something. "So, what are our options?"

"Right, while you two were scouting and raiding." Nico began, as he pulled out a large map. "I've been plotting down a couple potential locations for another safehouse. Take a look." He spread it out, with many markings and circles graffitied onto the paper.

Jacie and Tobi both stared at the map, scanning the locations, before the former pointed to somewhere close by that was unmarked. "Hmm, how about that police station? Bet we could find some weapons, guns and shit, and maybe some-"

Nico shook his head. "No, we're not going there."

"Why not? It's a pretty safe place, aside from that police department opposite town! We could live in-"

"Look. I've seen shadows and movement the last time I snuck over there. Shadows mean movement, and movement means someone. It's either some walking dead, or worse - some walking human." Nico stated his concerns. "God knows whether they're aggressive to outsiders, and I'm not going to take any chances."

"Alright then. How about this inn?" Tobi pointed to a spot on the map. "Although it's not that close by, it seems steady."

"Wha- No!" Jacie was mortified. "We've never even been there! It's uncharted territory! Who knows what's in there!"

"I'm with Tobi on this one."

"Thanks you Nic-" Jacie grinned before doing a double take. "Wait, what the fuck did you say?"

"Yeah...I'm siding with Tobi on this one." Nico crossed his arms. "Sure, it's further away from town, but it's definitely less riskier than the police station."

"Yep. Besides, if you look at the map." Tobi added as he pointed to a river close to the inn on the map. "There's a river nearby. Rivers means water, and as you said, water is the thing we desperately need now."

"Fine." Jacie groaned, he didn't like it when he got shut down, but he wasn't going to back down either. "I suggest we go to the police station someday to check it out a bit, see if we can find any weapons and all. Fair enough?"

"Sure, I guess." Nico nodded, before a thought crossed his mind. "Speaking of which, where should we go in case of an emergency?"

"I have a couple of suggestions..."


	2. Chapter Two

"Alright, let's run this checklist over again." Jacie looked over towards Nico, who was examining their supplies. "Water?"

"We got a couple bottles of that and a few cans of sodies left."

"Not much - what about ammo?"

"A couple clips - assuming nothing like what happened in the market yesterday happens again, we should be alright."

Jacie looked up from the list, looking grim. "Huh, alright then. And food?"

"I'm afraid we're starting to run low." Tobi answered, holding up an empty can. "We're gonna go hungry if we can't find some more."

Jacie felt a lump form in his throat. "Right. Let's just hope we come across actual food and not some rotten motherfucker, right boys?"

"Heh! I'll drink to that." Nico chuckled, though Tobi was not as reassured with Jacie's lighthearted attitude.

"You sure?" He asked worriedly. "I hope we actually find something to eat, or else we got a month left, tops."

Jacie however remained confident. "Heh heh, no sweat Tobi!" He assured the Korean, patting on his back. "We'll be back at sunset with a feast, just you wait!"

"Right..." Tobi was not assured in the slightest. "Safe trip, guys."

"Alright, before we go, remember the rendezvous spots?"

"Yeah, the stations. Hope I won't need to go there."

"Me too, buddy, me too."

* * *

"Well." Jacie steadied himself as they looked up at the mall. The very same one that they just escaped from mere hours ago. "Here we fucking go again, I guess."

"Yeah. I'm seriously worried that those walkers are still there." Nico nodded. "We could've died there you know!"

"Chillax chillax, I know some neat skills." Jacie grinned.

"Right, which includes opening fire and drawing their attention to us." Nico rolled his eyes before he stepped forward.

"C'mon buddy - just let that go already…"

"You know what? Fine, but to be honest, I'm just worried it could get us into trouble we can't get out someday." Nico paused for a moment, before spitting on the floor. "Actually, better not keep that thought, just in case me and my big mouth mess our luck."

"Alrighty." Jacie shrugged, before they arrived at their destination. "Let's just hope we'll come across something edible."

The two of them slowly walked into the supermarket, both keeping a hand close to their melee weapons on their belts.

"Huh, real quiet for a place that was overrun by zombies a few days ago."

"Looks like they left real fast, look." Jacie pointed at the footprints to a doorframe. "They smashed through those doors and barricades real nice and smooth."

"Yeah…" Nico absentminded replied before his foot hit something. "What the-?!" He jumped in fright.

"You alright?"

"Sorry, hit my foot again a dead zombie." Nico took a closer look at the corpse when he realized something. "Say, Jacie, you mind coming here for a moment?"

"What's the matter? You found something?"

"No...it's just, wasn't this the zombie I stabbed last time? Where did the knife go?"

"You sure this is the one?" Jacie asked as he came around. "Cause it looks different."

"No, I'm positive it's this one. Look." He pointed to the wound on its face. "It even has the stab wound in its head!"

"Holy shit, you're right." Jacie gasped. "This place is giving me the creeps."

"I wonder what took it, and what's with the emptiness?" He gestured around them. Indeed, it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. "Feels like they just all ran off or something."

"Nah, probs not." Jacie shook his head in disbelief. "Zombies don't have brains y'know, they're just a bunch of dead fucks that walk around like pigeons and fucking kill you if you get close! Not some kind of serial killers that get cold feet."

"But think about it, to make those markings we saw, they had to have all left in a hurry. Something must've drove them away." Nico reasoned. "Or someone."

Jacie gave him a freaked look. "No fucking way. What sane person wouldn't just fucking shoot them all?"

"If that's the case, we would be seeing hills of corpses around, not emptiness!"

"Argh, whatever, you're probably just overreacting. Take a deep breath and count to ten, then let's continue." Jacie dismissed his concerns before something else caught his eye. "Let's just start finding food. Hey look, there's some cans over there..."

Meanwhile, back at the base, Tobi was keeping himself occupied by packing up their supplies.

"Ugh...there." He grunted after putting down another crate. "Why do I always have to be the one guarding the place? I just wanna go and adventure with the boys. But no, I have to be the one packing stuff." At that moment his stomach gave a loud growl and he sighed. "And I hope that they can find some more food. I'm starv-"

Before he could finish the thought, though, he was interrupted by a loud creaking that seemed to resonate from outside. "Huh? Guys?" Tobi wondered out loud in surprise. "You're back so soon?" That was fast."

As he walked towards the door, he could hear a loud and repeated pounding on the door, which confused him greatly. They had no trouble opening the door before. "Guys? What's going on-" He stopped talking when he heard a third noise. One that seemed to be getting louder...

"Oh no."

* * *

Back at the market, unaware of the crisis at their home, the two were gathering supplies, ready to have a feast.

"Instant noodles, beef jerky, mmm!" Nico licked his lips. "I haven't had a properly meal in awhile."

"Glad to see you're alright." Jacie grinned. "Say, I saw some cans over there, wanna-?"

At that moment, the sound of a stack of boxes echoed in the market, and both of them froze. Whoever made that sound, they didn't know, but it meant that they weren't alone.

"Alright, you take the left." Jacie said carefully. "I'll take the right. Go."

Both of them crept towards the source of the sound, and hiding behind some shelves, they saw a person rummaging through the boxes, as if they were looking for something.

Arthur mouthed out. "One, two, three", before the two rushed forward. "Oi, you're-" Jacie began, but an emerging zombie next to Arthur caught his attention. "Look out!"

Thinking quickly, he shot at zombie just before it could bite him, an act which was quickly realized. "Woah! Holy crap, that was close!"

Their original target however, had different plans. With a snarl and the bang on the metal rack of the isle, two dozen more zombies emerged from hiding.

"Oi, come back you fucking coward!" Jacie yelled as the mysterious man ran off as they gunned down the rest of the zombies. "I'll break your fucking le-"

'Hello?' A frantic static voice interrupted him. 'Anyone there?'

"Yeah, this is Jacie speaking, we're here. What's going on?"

'I'm under attack! The base is overrun!' They could hear gunshots and a lot of animalistic groaning. 'Get off me-!" Tobi yelled, before the line went dead.

"Tobi? Tobi?" Nico grabbed his own radio, but there was no response. "Crap!"

"Fucking - damnit!" Jacie cursed. "We gotta go now!"

"What about the food?"

"Just grab whatever you can and go! He quickly finished off the remaining zombies before sweeping an entire shelf of cans into his bag. "C'mon!"

"But, I- ah screw this." He resigned, taking as many on the floor as possible, struggling to put them in. "Wait up!"

Jacie quickly crashed out of the market through the glass, with Nico finding the hole he came out of. "Please don't let it be too late!"

* * *

Even as they frantically ran, they still hada sense of dread as they sprinted back to the base.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck- I hope that Tobi's ok."

"Me too." Nico agreed. "We should've moved out earlier. Or else none of this shit would've happened!"

"Whatever! Let's go find Tobi-" He skidded to a stop to see the wreckage. There was a huge hole by the barricade. Even from a distance, the two could see hordes getting inside.

"Ah jeez, we're definitely moving out."

"You're about three months too late for that thought." Nico retorted. "C'mon! We gotta find Tobi!"

Jacie and Arthur raced towards the house and leapt up to grab the barbed wire, pulling themselves up and over the barricades. As the two made their way in the house, they soon realized what had happened when they were gone.

"Ah shit-" Jacie paled over the sight of the seemingly endless horde. "Tobi? Tobi! Where are you?"

"I don't see him!" Nico begun to panic, before he yelled loudly. "Tobi! The hell are you?"

Jacie gave a frustrated sigh as he slashes off an incoming zombie with his machete. "Hate to say it, but I don't think he's here!" He turned and tripped over, landing on the ground - as well as something sticky. "Uh...Nico?"

Nico crept down to touch the substance, before turning back to Jacie. "It's blood. Recently as well." He confirmed, before facing back the horde. "Looks like we have to get out of here first."

* * *

"Oh my fucking god - what now?" Jacie panted as they slowly walked out from the house, covered in scratches.

"I dunno… there isn't anything on the radio." A dreadful thought crossed Nico's mind, and he paled. "You don't - you don't really think that he's-"

"No! Tobi doesn't just go down like that!" Jacie threatened to pull off handfuls of hair. "I'm not losing another fucking friend! Not again!"

"I don't want to, either." Nico agreed, before taking a deep breath. "Alright, let's think this through. He isn't the strongest guy, but he can definitely put up a fight.Say that he's alive, where could he be?"

"I don't know! It's not like-" He paused in his frantic pacing. "Wait. We agreed on two rendezvous spots, remember?" Jacie's face lit up with hope. They had a lead! "Only problem is, which station could he have gone to?"

"Maybe the Gas Station. He wanted to go there before right?"

"Nah, I'd say he went to the Police Station." Jacie disagreed. "There's more defenses there. He could last longer."

"I dunno…" Nico shook his head as he thought over the choices. "When you're on the run, would you rather hide in the closer place or a safer place?"

"The safer one, of course! Who the fuck wouldn't?"

"A person who is carrying a heavy load wouldn't. Besides, he's waiting for us to meet up with him. Why would he choose the place that is further?"

"Because he wants to fucking live?" Jacie was getting agitated by the argument. "Damn it Nico, you're not making any fucking sense, buddy. We're heading to the Police Station, right now."

"No, we're heading to the Gas Station, you hear me?"

Jacie groaned angrily. Why did Nico had to be the one who disagree? Tobi's life was at stake! "The fuck I have to do to convince you?" He demanded, before jabbing a finger to make his point. "Tobi. has. to. be. at. the fucking Police Station! There's no questioning about it!"

"Damn it Jacie, I'm only thinking about this logically!" Nico threw his arms up in frustration. "The heck you're thinking about? It doesn't make sense!"

"Logically? How the fuck am I the irrational one here? I would head there-"

"This is why!" Nico was getting more frustrated by Jacie's stubbornness. "You're thinking about where YOU would go, not Tobi! It's him we're looking for, not you!"

"Alright then." Jacie crossed his arms. "How are we going to find him, jackass?"

Nico tried to make a response, but he stopped. Jacie grinned triumphantly, believing he got the last laugh.

"Thought so." He said smugly. "Now come on-"

"How about we just follow what we wanna do instead?"

Jacie was taken back by his answer and his calm demeanor. "Wait - what? What the fuck do you mean?" He sputtered.

"How about I head to the Gas Station, and you head to the Police Station." Nico explained calmly. "If we find Tobi there, we'll call each other on the radio. Fair enough?"

For a good minute, Jacie's face turned red as he struggled to come up with a response. "I - but - fine! Have it your way!" He gave a rude gesture on his hand. "See if I care when you come back apologizing when Tobi isn't there!"

With a huff, Jacie swerved around and took off, cursing to himself, while Nico shook his head and headed in the opposite direction. As the two departed, their house - or what's left of it - gave out, before it finally collapsed, raising dust and sand into the air...as someone else watched on.


	3. Chapter Three

"Ugh, this is fucking annoying. I'm tired as shit running around." Jacie groaned before giving a sigh. swiping his brow. "Might as well stop complaining."

For the next hour, he walked on in silence, with the occasion zombie groans disturbing his thought process.

"How the fuck could Nico think that Tobi went to the Gas Station, it's so fucking far away!" Jacie said angrily, kicking a stray pebble on the road. "Besides, it's probably long fucking looted already. He may be a wreck, but he would know better than to fucking hide somewhere better than that dump of a place."

In spite of this, there was this thought at the back of his head that kept saying otherwise. "But maybe Tobi is in there? Or not. It's probably home to something else. Or someone." He tried to reassure himself, but the feeling didn't go away, even as he arrived at the Police Station.

"Well, here I fucking am." Jacie sighed. "He better be fucking here."

* * *

Unbeknownst to him, Nico was thinking quite similarly on his way to the Gas Station.

"It's really fifty fifty that Tobi is at the Gas Station." He rationalized. "But he'd prioritize others over himself. No way would he let us risk our lives for his..."

The creaking of metal stopped him as he looked up. A few blocks ahead, the gas station was in sight.

"Better hope I'm right," Nico sighed as he steeled himself. "Or else Jacie will mess with me about this for life."

Steadily, Nico approached the station, where at first glance, it seemed to be barren, save for a few zombies stumbling around.

"Here we go again." Nico sighed as he loaded his gun.

With a few bullets, Nico put the few zombies there out of their misery, before lowering it down. Checking to see if anything had heard the shots, he pushed a hand against the door, ringing the greeting jingle. "Tobi? Are you here?"

At first, there was silence. Nico complimented whether he had made a fatal mistake when something broke the silence.

A lone scream of pain from within was the response.

* * *

"That's odd, seems like no one's in here..." Jacie said warily, keeping his machete armed, in case anything popped up. "Thought there's bound to be at least one fucker holding the fort..."

He continued the search, though the lack of response kept him on edge as he wandered around. "This silence is giving me the creeps..."

Eventually, he had covered almost the entire station. "Looks like it has been long moved out. Ugh - maybe Nico was right." His eyes drifted to the cabinet, before landing on a police baton on the ground. "Ehh, might as well pick up some loot while I'm at it." Jacie shrugged as he picked up the baton, before he came around the corned to see the Armory.

"Jackpot!" He exclaimed before entering the Armory, dropping his bag to the ground as he greedily took in the sight. Guns and explosives lined the walls; a paradise to the survivor.

"Fuck yeah!" Jacie picked up the Revolver and held the box of ammunition in his arms. "Today's a beautiful day!"

"Inteed. Shame zat it vill be, your last as vell." A germanic voice calmly stated, startling Jacie who dropped the box in his hand before turning around and reaching for his gun, but facing him, is a terrible sight.

It was not a zombie, but there was nothing human about it either. Its hair was greying, with large bald spots visible, like it was falling out. Its pallid skin, though bumpy, had a steely bluish tint, filled with horrific wounds smeared with dried blood. Its left eye was bloodshot, contrasting against the white iris, with the eyebrow divided into two parts by a lesion. The other eye was covered by an eye patch stained with a botch of bloody red, with the cheek below severely burnt and maimed, revealing parts of the bleeding gums that composed a rotten jaw, filled with bloody teeth even threatening to show bone.

It wore a brown leathery outfit, although the left sleeve clearly was ripped off from somewhere and sewn on, with a black sleeve suiting the rest of the dark vibe. There were sewn on patches all over the place, looking charred and stained with blood and gore. Strapped behind its back was a large bag and a gleaming axe - which like its owner - had dry bloodstains all over it.

Jacie rubbed his eyes and blinked twice before looking again, confirming that this monstrosity was indeed real and not some hallucination. "Who the fuck are you?" He asked confusingly, though deep down, he had a sense of dread.

Surprisingly, the figure was silent and didn't move, almost like a statue.

Jacie was taken aback by the lack of interaction, so he tried again. "I said, who the fuck are you?" He repeated, his gun in his rising hands. "How did you get here?"

Once again, it refused to speak, though the hint of a smile slowly crept onto its face.

"Ey buddy speak up!" Jacie shouted, his temper getting the better of him.

It gave a soft chuckle, almost hauntingly, before it begun to hum a tune, one which Jacie did not know what it was, nor did he care, having gotten quite impatient from this toying around. "Listen, I'm gonna ask you one last fucking time. Who the fuck are you-"

Before he could finish the question though, the figure whipped out something small from the bag and hurled it at Jacie, as the projectile cut through the air and slashed partially through Jacie's leg. "FUCK!" He cursed, dropping his gun to clutch his leg and stared at the weapon: landing a few feet away, was a familiar -though bloodied - knife.

"You don't vant to mess vith me." It said quietly, drawing its axe and stalked forward, like a predator ready to finish off its prey.

"Oh, I think otherwise!" Jacie shouted before opening fire, the bullets piercing through its chest in sprays of blood, yet to his shock it did seemingly nothing, except maybe - turn it on?

"No vere to hide, dummkopf!" The monstrosity gave a shrill laugh as it swung. Jacie - in spite of his injuries - managed to jump back in the nick of time, causing it to bury the axe into the wall like a sledgehammer as he stumbled.

Startled, Jacie quickly fell away deeper into the armory, grabbing the knife and killed the lights as he dropped to a shelf. The monstrosity let out an animalistic snarl as it managed to pry out the axe from the dent in the wall, glaring at its fleeing prey.

"Hobe you like mein friends. You'll ve _dying_ to meet dem!" It called out, as the distinct groans of the dead began to fill the room. Jacie's eyes widened as he tried to his best to ignore the pain in his leg, searching for a way out.

"Okay - okay, Jacie." He breathed, looking around with the knife in his head. "How the fuck - are you - going to get the fuck out?"

A loud, metallic clanging suddenly echoed, while the groans grew louder. Jacie could also make out some snarling and growling, before its eerie voice begin to _sing_.

"Feeling my vay through zee darkness-" The vocals and the somewhat rhythmic clanging formed a haunting melody, something Jacie took advantage of as he navigated in the near darkness. "Guited py a peading heart-"

Jacie tried to be still, as the clangs grew louder, as did the song. It was almost like that old horror game, about a technician through an empty room, he dared not make any sudden moves.

"Vake me up ven it's all over." A loud clang echoed. "Ven I'm vizer und I'm olter." The hollow noise grew even louder, with Jacie almost certain it was nearby. "All zis time I vas finting myzelf - "

It stopped, and for a good ten seconds Jacie thought about making a run again.

The choice was made for him, as the voice sung once more.

"- didn't know, I VAS LOST!" A hand suddenly gripped around his throat as Jacie was hoisted up to his feet, and he could feel the rotten breath flow over his skin which he struggled to not take in. "You make vine brey." It noted as Jacie struggled. "Hobe you taste as koo-"

Jacie responded by driving an uppercut to its face, freeing himself as it stumbled backward, clearly not expecting retaliation. Seizing his chance, he threw himself away - and into the embrace of a nearby zombie. It snarled as it nearly took a bite, but Jacie drove the knife behind him and limped off.

"Vunning off again, are you?" It growled, before snarling again. The rest of the walking dead, once just mindlessly stumbling, suddenly responded and reacted - like a chain reaction - and converged towards Jacie. "No more kames!"

"Jacie? Jacie?"

"What the fuc - who's else is there?" Jacie looked around, but the only things in sight, were the hungry zombies.

"Jacie! Come on, don't be dead!" He hear the voice again, just as he ducked down to avoid an incoming embrace. As he limped out, he soon realized was from his belt.

"Ahhh- fuck!" He gritted, shooting down zombies as he grabbed the radio. "Who the fuck is this?"

"Jacie, I found Tobi!" Nico exclaimed back. "He's at the Gas Station all along!"

All thoughts of his own well-being left Jacie for a brief moment as he took in the news, and the dead seized their chance and pinned him down, snapping him out of his trance. "Tobi! Why - actually fuck that! Are you injured!"

"Got my arm pinned under a damn shelf - don't think I broke any major bones though, so I think I'm - good!" Tobi struggled to speak; it was clear that the shelf did more than he thought.

"Alright, I'll be- I'll be coming to ya guys soon." He paused to roll over and killed another zombie before getting up. "Hang on!"

"Koing zo zoon?" The monstrosity slammed its axe a few inches into Jacie's hair and cut off a chunk. "Und I vas getting started."

"My fluff!" Jacie wailed before shooting wildly, and the ricocheting setting it off as the ceiling caved in. "Go to hell!" He shouted, yet the monstrosity merely looking up with it's arms out wide, its haunting laughter still echoed loud enough for Jacie to hear as he fled.

* * *

"There you are!" Nico called from the doors. "Took you long enough to finally admit you were wrong-"

"Oh my God!" Tobi exclaimed, noticing Jacie's limp. "What happened to you?"

"Don't - worry - Tobi," Jacie gritted through his teeth. "I'm alright."

"No, you're definitely not." Tobi stared at him incredulously. "You look even more screwed up than me!"

"He's right." Nico realised the state of his friend. "What the heck happened at the police station?"

"Some fucking ambush, I don't-!" Jacie panted before he collapsed. "Gaaah - my leg hurts!"

"Oh god." Tobi gasped as he looked at the state of the injury. "Okay, try not to move, I'm going to try and stop the bleeding."

"Aaack - I don't fucking care!" He screamed as Tobi proceeded to cut his leg open with the scalpel from his med kit. "Just - fucking do something!"

"Seriously though Jacie, what happened?"

"Met some - weird - fucker - at the Police Station." Jacie did his best in spite of he pain. "Couldn't beat - me up, so that - fucking - coward, called - a bunch of zombies - to attack."

"Hold up. He called a bunch of zombies to attack you?" Nico asked in disbelief.

"Believe - me, I was shocked as well." Jacie replied sarcastically.

Nico ignored the retort and pressed on. "What did he look like? The guy who beat you up?

"Ugh - let me think. Hair that was falling out, bloody eyes, and bleeding cuts and scratches all over him. If I'm honest, the bastard looked like a fucking corpse." Jacie grunted as the antiseptic was brushed over the wound again, before it was bandaged up. "You know, there's something about the fucker that seemed really familiar though for some reason. But I can't think why."

"Can we talk about this later?" Tobi interrupted, pointing at the crimson sky. "Sun's getting low, we gotta find a place to stay."

"Well the Police Station is a big no, guess we're heading to that inn." Nico reasoned. "Jacie, you coming with us?"

"What other choice do I have - mph!" Jacie tried to stand up, only to grab his bandaged leg as he briefly stumbled.

"Easy there! Tobi quickly steadied his friend. "Try not to stress it, it's a cracked bone."

"I can feel that. Oh yea, and before I forget." Jacie rummaged through his bag before producing a familiar Combat Knife.

"Holy-!" Nico was surprised as he reclaimed the weapon. "Where did you find that?"

"Crazy cunt slashed my leg with it, I'll recognize that handle anywhere. Anyhow, come on, let's go."

* * *

One long trek later, the trio arrived at the inn. Jacie was impressed. "Huh. Guess you were right Tobi. The infamous inn does exist."

"Yeah." Tobi looked hopeful. "Looks like a place we could call home."

"Yep, looks stable enough to me." Nico agreed, already racking up ideas on how to change the place. "It has walls and some camping trailers over there. Maybe we can find some stuff there!"

"Hang on. Jacie paused as he drew his M9. "There's some zombies. I think maybe around 10, tops." He aimed it at one of the zombies, but Nico shook his head as he held the barrel of the gun. "They don't know we're here. Might as well conserve some ammo."

"Alright. What should we do?" Tobi asked quietly, as Jacie put back the M9 in his belt.

Nico scanned the area, before he got an idea. "We could divide and conquer. One of us distracts the dead,the others taken 'em from behind."

"Ok Tobi. See that zombie over there?"

"The one close to the wall? What do I need to do?"

"Give that zombie your best shot." Nico grabs a brick from ground and tossed it to Tobi. "Stay behind us and throw at it on our command."

"Nico, I'll take down this one here, and you take down that one over there. Got it?" Jacie asked, taking out his combat knife. Nico nodded as he produced his own. "Alright. Lets go."

The three of them walked carefully towards zombies, Jacie threw his hand down as he and Nico rushed out. Tobi threw the brick at zombie close to the Inn's Wall, hitting it cleanly while Jacie and Nico took out both designated zombies.

"So far, so good." Jacie looked towards the camper trailers. "There's a couple more over there. Nico, you take out the one closer to the engine, and I'll take out the one close to the rear of it. Tobi, watch our backs." Jacie begun just as Nico accidentally swung his crowbar into a nearby gate, and a loud, echoing clang broke the silence. "Sorry!"

"Well shit indeed." Jacie cursed as the rest of the walking dead converged towards them.

"Yup." Tobi sighed. "Hand me one of your Bowie knives, alright?"

"What?" Jacie looked surprised. "DId I hear that right? You sure you want to fight?"

"Been awhile since I was benched, I need some action back in my life." He shrugged, eyeing at Nico who took out his M4-A1 carbine. "Besides, I'm not that great with firearms anyway."

"Well." Jacie clipped off one of his knives and tossed it to Tobi. "Take your shot."

Tobi grabbed it mid-air before burying the blade into the walker next to him. Jacie was taken aback before he opened fire with his pistol. "The fuck - since when can you do that?"

"I was with a squad before you found me, remember?" Tobi called back. "I learnt a few tricks!"

* * *

"I think that's all." Nico stated, looking around carefully before lowering his weapon. "Let's go check out the place, alright?"

The three headed towards the inn. Though they had a minor problem with the door, Nico managed to bust it open with a well placed bullet, and Jacie poked his head in.

"You see anything?"

"Think we're GOOD-!" Jacie was quickly startled by a walker that was close to the door, quickly putting it down.

"Jacie? You alive?" Tobi and Nico both bolted in, each ready to use their weapons.

"Yeah, I'm good." He panted, clutching his chest. "Just a fucking zombie gave me a fucking heart attack." He explained as the rest of them entered the lounge.

It was filthy, there was dust on the surface of every piece of furniture, with even a few more zombies walking around, all of which were put out of their misery.

"Ugggh." Jacie looked as the corpses fell on the floor, visibly disgusted. "Nico, help me move these fucking bodies outta here. I'll burn em later."

"Alright." Nico tried his best not to stare, when Tobi gave a shout of delight from somewhere else.

"Hey look, a working fridge!" Tobi called from a kitchen. "There's a box of chips and dried food in here. Haven't had these in awhile!"

"Fuck yeah!" Jacie peered from Tobi's shoulder. 'AND there's some bottles of beer in it, looks like we can crack a couple ones today boys!"

"Heck yea!" Nico grabbed one of the bottles before breaking the bottle head with the adrenaline. "Cheers!"

"Hold up. We still need to put this place back up." Tobi pointed out.

"Yeaaah..." Jacie also realized the state of their situation. "We gotta return to our old house to grab the remainder supplies though. We still need the food in there."

"Assuming that they can be retrieved, that is..."

"It better be, we gotta find a way on how to barricade off that massive opening though."

"Well, there's plenty of stuff lying around." Nico pointed out the furniture. "We just gotta barricade them properly, unlike that old barricade we had before with scraps."

"Yeah - speaking of which, can I come with you to get some supplies at our old house?"

"Sure thing! The more the merrier!"

"Alright." Nico yawned. "Imma find a room to sleep in, I'm exhausted."

"Me too." Tobi yawned. "Night guys!"

"Welp, guess I'll keep watch." Despite the unexpected labour, Jacie let a smile grow on his face as he watched them go. "Sweet dreams."


	4. Chapter Four

The next day, and one long trek later, Jacie and Tobi arrived at the ruins of their old house. After the previous two days, it was crushed, having fallen inward. Jacie felt his heart break at the sight. "Ugh, our poor little home."

"Dude, we just crashed here for a few months." Tobi shook his head over Jacie's dramatic declaration. "Besides, we have a new home, remember?"

"Fine, you have a point there." Jacie sighed as he crawled over the barricade. Something didn't sit right. "Odd."

"What's odd?"

"Aside the fact that there's no sign of movement?"

Tobi shrugged as he got up. "Could have been buried with the house."

"I suppose...though the last time I was in an area this quiet, we were ambushed."

"Ambushed?"

Jacie nodded. "Scavenger at the market, a small group of zombies popped out of nowhere as he fled."

"Okay...that's not creepy at all." Tobi suppressed a shiver and peered at the debris. "I think I can see a safe passageway, try moving that pillar."

"Alrighty." Jacie cracked his knuckles. "Speaking of safe passageway, how did you get out? The place was overrun the last time we saw it.

"I, uh, jumped for it."

"What." Jacie dropped the pillar and stared at Tobi. "You're telling me, that you managed to JUMP over the entire group, as in, dozens of zombies horde?"

"There weren't that many to begin with." Tobi protested. "I don't know exactly when you guys got back, but there were just half a dozen when I jumped over the fence. Must have tripped over the wire or something and brought the entire thing down."

"Huh." Jacie thought for a moment before letting the matter drop. "Alrighty, let's get what's left in this wreck."

* * *

It took them a lot of work, but as the days went on, the inn was being restored to its former glory. They got the lights working with the backup generator, and a few more gas canisters for cooking. Tobi even found the storage room for their food, and for a good week, they lived in somewhat luxury.

"You alright, Tobi?" Jacie asked as Tobi emerged from the stairs one day. "Looks like you died."

"He must had a nightmare." Nico thought out loud. "I could hear it from my room."

"I d-d-don't b-bl-lame you, k-k-kept me awa-wa-ke for the entire night." Tobi answered through chattering teeth. "Damn, I'm still shivering."

Jacie smirked as he drunk another cup of coffee with the spare coffee beans they had found. "Sure...it wasn't the bucket of cold water that Nico found that's giving you chills."

"How does a bucket even stay that cold for a few months! That's physically impossible!"

"Do I look like I studied Physics?" Jacie retorted. "I barely scraped a pass during my final exams, and that was even after I cheated!"

"Well, do _I_ look like I still remember?" Tobi gave a exasperated sigh, shaking his head. "My degree was in Biology, not that!"

"Are we going to continue this meaningless argument, or move onto some more important stuff?" Nico asked, putting down his bowl of crackers.

"Okay. So, I've been thinking about our water problem. I've found some containers that aren't too dirty or broken, and fortunately we could start having a supply of water. With the right materials, that is."

Jacie was confused by the statement. "What? Aren't the metal pipes and glass enough?

"Well, we need something to keep them steady, and the glass is cracked. It won't heat the water quick enough, might also have a leakage."

"Well, what do you need?"

"Some metal to fasten the whole system, and also a large roll of clear plastic." Tobi explained, before elaborating. "Just in case the glass gets dirty, it's easier to change that than deconstruct the whole thing and risk contamination."

Jacie blinked. "Right - and where do we get that stuff?"

"I know of a scrapyard nearby. Should have enough metal to last for days." Nico said. "But as for the plastic? I think the department stores - if they still exist - have been long looted."

"Hmm...maybe try the factory? You know, the one a few streets away?"

"Okay...if you say so." Jacie said hesitantly as he got up. "Come on, Nico, let's get that stuff."

* * *

Nico arrived at a junkyard. Cars could be seen in every direction, and scrap metal littered the ground. A few walkers walked around, paying little attention to the newcomer.

"Man, is this a jackpot! I'm so glad I found this last week, at least the barricade will be more than just a few pieces of barbed wire and broken furniture."

Nico began to fill his bag with metal, killing the few walkers that came in too close. It didn't take too long for him to fill it up.

"Well, that's about as much I can carry." Nico picked up his bag and began to walk off. "Time to head back.

"Someone..."

Nico stopped in his tracks, looking around. "Uh...Hello?" He warily called out "Is there someone?"

It took a few minutes, but he managed to pick up a voice. "Help..." It weakly called out.

Nico tensed, trying to find the source of the sound. "Hey, whoever is out there, speak up. I can't find-"

He stopped abruptly, discovering the source - and the aftermath of a horrific incident.

In front of him, were the remains of a car wreck. Inside, a brunette man was half trapped within the frame, which seemed to have moved while he was in it, and was crushing him alive.

"Hang on!" Nico dropped his bag and rushed frantically at the wreck, lunging towards the ground and digging at the gravel. "I'll get you out!"

* * *

"Agh. Of all the damn places, why the fuck is plastic found here?" Jacie groaned as he approached a worn down factory. Graffiti could be seen on the wall, while a lose pipe creaked dangerously, threatening to fall off.

"And of course the fucking building is falling down as well." Jacie let out an exasperated sigh. "Let's just get this over with."

Jacie tried to pry open the door, but it refused to move. Groaning, he looked around to find another entrance, eventually his sights landing on a broken window.

"That might be my only way in. Now, to find something to get up there, I'm not ruining my beautiful face with glass!"

About a few hours and an incredibly sore bum later, Jacie finally managed to enter the building and started looking around the rooms. It was filled with machinery, all of which seemed to have been stopped suddenly, leaving behind an unpleasant dampness in the air.

"Heh, heh. There you are." Jacie gave a grin as he spotted a roll from a packaging line and proceeded to untangle the thing. "Come to-"

"No! Please! Have mercy!"

Jacie froze. Unless he was mistaken, that was the sound of someone screaming. As he stuffed the plastic roll into his bag, he could hear footsteps growing louder, before the unmistakable sound of a gunshot echoed from somewhere.

"Shit!" He cursed before diving to a nearby workbench and hiding.

An injured man stumbled from a corridor clutching his side as he ran. Another gunshot and Jacie saw him get hit again by another bullet. Two men wearing mismatching outfits emerge from behind, each carrying a handgun.

"Please! I beg of you!"

"Should had thought about that before you stole from the boss." One of the man's pursuers strides forward, reloading his gun. "It ain't personal, thief." He spat before ending the man's misery, causing Jacie to gasp a little too loudly at the sight.

"You heard something?"

"Must be another of them corpses."

"No, it sounded like a gasp or somethin'." The raider's eyes narrowed. "Someone else is there."

"Look, if you're so worried, just blow up the damn room." The other shrugged. "We ought to be moving to that street next with the group."

The first raider nods as he took out a block of C4 alongside what appeared to be a detonator before turning around to leave.

Jacie emerges from his hiding spot, and in a moment of instinct, fired. The first goon yelped, dropping his detonator and grabbing his bleeding side.

"Hands up!" The second raider shouted, raising her gun. It was at that moment Jacie realized the position he was in.

"Shit!" He cursed before he took off running as they opened fire, bullets ricocheting through the building. "Dammit! Why can't I just have a peaceful day!"

"Get back here!" The raider shouted, before grabbing the detonator. "You're going down with her!" He shouted, chasing Jacie, who returned fire. Even though the bullets didn't nick anything vital, one of them had pierced through his hand, causing him to drop the detonator.

"Oh, fuck off!" He cursed as the C4 went off, causing the already unstable building to crumble down. "And of course the building is collapsing. If this isn't cheap writing I don't know what is!"

He rushed through the window, glass shattering in front of him, as the building blew up in a fiery explosion of flame.

* * *

He awoke with a jolt.

The first thing that registered in his mind was that he was lying on something soft. At first he thought it was a corpse. Then he felt around and realized it was a mattress.

He could hear two people are arguing in the background, while the other person in the room - a korean man wearing a white coat - turned around. "Hey, you're awake." He said, somewhat relieved. "Sorry I can't do anything else; we have quite limited supplies."

"Who are you?"

"That should be a question we should be asking you." Someone else demanded, and he saw two men entering, one of them - maybe Asian American if he had to guess and looking like a furry - drawing his gun. "Start answering, or I'll start shooting. Now talk!"

"Whoa, Jacie. Chill!" The other shouted before he dragged Jacie back outside, while the Korean turned back to him sheepishly.

"Sorry, uh-"

"It's Lukas. With a K, mind you."

"Right. Sorry for - Jacie. He's a bit, um, how do I say it-"

"Off his hooker?"

"Well, you could have said it nicer, but...yeah, he's like that when he's stressed. I'm Tobi, by the way."

Lukas smiled as he turned his head. "How did I get here?

"Well, Nico there." Tobi pointed to the Caucasian who had dragged away the fur - Jacie. "He found you trapped inside a car, you were in _and_ became quite the wreck, not gonna lie."

"Hey." Jacie knocked on the door, looking cross. "A quick word, alright?"

"Fine." Tobi nodded, standing up to leave. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Sure thing. I need a break anyway." Lukas shrugged before he closed his eyes. Checking to confirm that he was sleeping, Tobi left the room, where Jacie and Nico were standing by the door.

"How is...uh, the guy?" Nico asked nervously.

"Well, his name is Lukas, first of all." Tobi began. "And for his injuries, well, he lost a fair amount of blood, but fortunately, not enough to need a blood bag - not that we could give him that if he really needed it. He also got a few fractured bones in his arm, but I managed to set them back."

"Well, should we even waste time on him?" Jacie asked. "We don't know who he is! And with those looters and their boss, we should be focusing on that."

"Right." Nico rolled his eyes. "Just because those two said 'that street', which means it must be the street we're on."

"What was it you said? Better safe than sorry?"

"That was for the motel! Somewhere we already are in!" Nico ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Besides, just because the last guy you tried to save ending up dying, doesn't mean everyone else should be left for dead!"

"Don't you dare mention A-" Jacie seethed before a loud thump startled them, and he whipped put his M9 as the three spun around. Lukas stood there, leaning against the door for support. "Whoa! Easy, didn't mean to startle you."

"Well, we're running a bit low on supplies." Jacie began, before he stepped forward and pressed the barrel against Lucas' head. "So, give us - me, actually - one good reason why I should not put a bullet through your head right now."

"Woah, easy there!" Nico made a move for the barrel, but Lukas raised his hands in surrender.

"It's understandable. But anyways, you said you saw a duo mention a boss?"

Jacie's eyes narrowed. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"Hard not to when you two were arguing so loudly." Lukas apologised. "Now, well, I may have my suspicions on who this duo and their boss, but until I actually meet them, I can't confirm-"

"Will you just cut to the fucking point?"

"Fine! I may not be certain who is attacking us, but I do know how to fortify a base. And I do have these." He put one hand into his pocket and pulled out a hand grenade, causing Jacie and to an extent Nico to be wary. "Where did you-?"

"Somewhere I'd rather not say." Lukas replied as he put it away. "Let's just say, I did security once. Picked up from military remains. If you like, I can help."

"Thanks, now come on." Lukas smiled as Nico led him towards their barricade, leaving behind a very suspicious Jacie fuming.


End file.
